  Go to LAN281 - Moments Musicaux
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Classical Source, November 2007
'Evelina Puzaite (born 1982) had already impressed before she justifiably won the Abstract Securities Landor Competition in 2006. This recording, with more to come from Landor Records, was amongst the prizes.
And a splendid debut it is too, blessed with recorded sound that marriages immediacy, space and tonal fidelity to a realistic nicety. The Kodály is an excellent opener, smouldering, whimsical and passionate, the earthiness of the music, and also its light and shade, well brought out by Puzaite; her affection for the music is clear and she is also respectful of Kodály’s sophisticated setting of these peasant and gypsy ditties. Annie Fischer, for example, may have found greater abandon (try her on BBC Legends), but Puzaite is a winning guide through this very particular music; just as she is in the pleasing miniatures (the longest is barely two minutes long) by her fellow-Latvian Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1875-1911).
Liszt’s Studies (although unnamed by him) include ‘Un Sospiro’: this last-placed piece ripples here with a fine surge of emotion and a directness of utterance, to which Puzaite adds two of Liszt’s revisions. Her playing is candid, maybe too much so, but she is a sensitive exponent of the poetry and depth-of-feeling of all three pieces and finds an attractive dexterity for ‘La Leggierezza'.
The six Moments Musicaux of Rachmaninov add up to a substantial, 32-minute set. Immediately, in the opening ‘Andantino’, Puzaite is alive to the soulful nature of the composer’s writing and, then, in the ‘Allegretto’, its emotional agitation before the respective soul-searching and demonism of the next two pieces. The melodious fifth piece is particularly affecting and the final ‘Maestoso’ is both thunderous and focussed. Puzaite seems to have a special relationship with Rachmaninov’s music. This and the Kodály are especially impressive.
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Colin Anderson BBC Music Magazine, November 2007
'Winner of the 2006 piano (sic.) competition partly promoted by this recording label, the 25-year old Lithuanian puts her best foot forward in the weightier part of her debut recital. First there are some relative rarities: Kodaly’s Dances of Marosszek, more familiar in there orchestrated guise, and a wistful group of miniatures from Puzaite’s best-known musical compatriot, Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis…The introspection, modestly sounded in the Ciurlonis Preludes, holds good for the grander ambitions of Liszt’s Trois Études de Concert. Here Puzaite maintains the serious argument of ‘Il Lamento’ through unaffected flurries of notes in ‘La Leggierezza’. She knows, too, exactly how to pace the last and most familiar of the pieces, ‘Un Sospiro’, through to an impressive climax.
That careful marshalling of Romantic scope serves her well in Rachmaninov’s Moments Musicaux. Only the chordal brooding of the Andante Cantabile needs more intensity behind it; but when the textures are elaborate, Puzaite keeps her poise.
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David Nice International Record Review, October 2007
'It was an inspired idea by Landor Records to create its own annual…competition, awarding a long-term recording contract to the winner…Evelina Puzaite, the winner in 2006, makes her recording debut with a varied and eclectic programme of works from central Europe.
Kodaly’s Dances of Marosszek are rarely heard in their original piano version (premiered by Bartok) and Puzaite makes a very strong case for them: the folk elements are clearly brought out in an evocative and rhapsodic performance, with the sustaining pedal skilfully and imaginatively used to conjure up a rich array of instrumental sonorities. Puzaite is Lithuanian and she includes five short preludes by her compatriot, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875 – 1911). It is wonderful to find that the booklet contains reproductions of two of his paintings, in addition to the excellent notes by Jeremy Hayes. Ciurlionis’s musical language is indebted to Chopin as well as to his own native folk music, but it also looks forward, with Impressionist colouring and a sense of slight abstraction very similar to the exoticism and mystique of the preludes of his contemporary Scriabin. Puzaite clearly is an ardent and persuasive advocate of these works and I hope she will record more of them in due course…
The playing is always beautiful and technically accomplished in every way…Puzaite’s approach is less muscular, more tender and more introverted, and I would again single out her use of the sustaining pedal to coax out a range of wonderful colours and textures, particularly in the quieter passages, while never over-pedalling, and maintaining absolute clarity in the most virtuosic and dense passagework.
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Nicholas Salwey Musicweb, October 2007
'Evelina Puzaite was born in 1982 in Vilnius, Lithuania and has been the recipient of many prizes. Most recently she won the Abstract Securities Landor Competition in 2006. I assume that the present recording, the first of her long term contract with Landor Records, is one result of that competition. If so, it does credit to both Ms Puzaite and Landor. The choice of music is interesting and well suited to her abilities and style. The presentation of the disc, with extensive and helpful notes by Jeremy Hayes is a model of its kind.
The Kodály is well known in its orchestral guise, but I had not heard it in its original piano version before, and am very glad to have done so now, especially in such a convincing performance. Ms Puzaite has a very considerable technique and obvious views on the character of the music she plays. This applies even more to the Rachmaninov and Liszt where each piece is distinctly characterized. At times the freedom which she applies to the text might perhaps be thought excessive, but overall I found these fresh and convincing performances.
Although they fill only a small part of the disc, it was the Preludes by Ciurlionis that I enjoyed most. Brief pieces that do not outstay their welcome, each has its own character and interest. The reproductions of two of his paintings in the booklet are too small to draw any serious conclusions about the relationship between his music and painting but they do whet the appetite to see more. It is good not only that Ms Puzaite should want to record music by her compatriot but that Landor have allowed her to do so. I hope that she is allowed to continue this in her future recordings with them.
I have purposely not compared this disc with others in the case of the better known works. At this stage in her career what matters is that Ms Puzaite shows obvious abilities and promise, and that she has produced a debut album which is thoroughly enjoyable in itself. I look forward to future recordings with considerable interest.
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John Sheppard
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